That's going to be an interesting fix. You could almost put a little fiberglass resin over the card and then sand to the final shape. I'll watch with interest 

John,

Yeah, that would probably be the smart thing to do.  So I'll do the exact opposite! 

After a few hours work, I managed to come up with something that will be acceptable.  I began by cuting the bad part of the fuselage off until I had a more squared off shape.  Then using the good half of the fuselage from another kit and a cardboard tube of approximate size, I cut out a shape that closely matches the other half (after a couple of tries).  She looks better in person that the photos show.  Next will come some trimming, glue and putty and I think it will at least be okay if you don't look too closely.  Still, to finish it I will have to glue the fuselage halves together, and that is still in the future as I have a lot of work to do on the interior.

Onward!

Gary

Thatsa what you call a serious short shot in the injection molding process.  You'll have enough trouble fairing in the tail transparencies with good moldings, not sure trying to fix that is worth it, as the inside will be visible.

Steve,

I understand.  Why worry about a so-so kit when you can build a nice one?

Case in point:

Anyway, the B-26 has had a minor "snag", so to speak.  I discovered, much to my chagrin, that instead of an odd mating of the windscreen as I had supposed, the entire rear portion of the tail was missing!  I was a bit flabbergasted (not to mention flummoxed).  How in the world did that happen?  Was it a error on Monogram's part, or did someone miscut the tail section for the earlier model?  I present the photo evidence so you can see what I'm talking about.

Now I'm not worried, as I have a perfectly good B-26 in the stash, and I can always steal the good half, but first I'm going to try to make a new tail section.  I have some plastic sheet, glue, scissors and an X-Acto knife.  What did they do about battle damage on the real ones?  They built it out of aluminum sheeting and rivets!  So, I'm going to attempt it.  This is what modeling is all about.  Frustration, tears, and perhaps a little blood loss.  Wish me luck!

Gary

Thanks Mongoose! I should have had the uppers painted by now but it's so friggin' hot I haven't been in the mood to do anything. 

Gary, I guess I shouldn't have said afraid- it's kinda more I keep passing over the kit for another Hasegawa or Tamiya wonder-kit. So maybe lazy... 

badlanguage

I had to wait for the paint I needed to finish the base for my Orion. I love Vallejo Model Color paint for brush painting! Anyway, here's the stand:

And with that I'm calling the thing done!

Thanks for this, I've been optimizing this model for a bit but this group build gave me a much needed kick in the pants to actually build it for real. And yes, I did make some more updates to the model for the next time I build it!

 

i've never seen this one before. Really a sharp job with that gold foil look and the base definitely really makes it pop

Gamera

Looks awesome BL!!! Great to see her almost done! 

 

The seatbelts came last week and I got them on the seats and the seats in the P-38. I'm finishing up the gunsight right now- Tamiya put a pile of detail in there and I'm going a bit slow since I can only do a step, let it dry, move on to the next step and let it dry etc. 

 

Great interior work there Gamera ! Really looking sharp, well worth the extra time you're putting in

oortiz10

OK Gamera, you asked for it! Here they are!

 

And a few more of my finished Lightning...

 

Thanks for running this GB Steve. You can use this photo for the main page: 

 

Hopefully I'll be able to get another submission done before the GB ends. Thanks for the fun, gang!

Cheers!

-O

 

 

Absolutely beautiful job -O! You did some cool weathering on there for sure.

Never be afraid to start a kit.  What's the worst that could happen?  You could mess something up and screw the pooch?  I'll do that.  I always research a kit if I can, find the flaws, and then proceed to do something that'll make sure I do exactly that!  It's to be expected.  Really, it always worries me when something is going well.  I must be doing something wrong! 

Gary

That's awesome Gary! Always loved the looks of the B-26. I've got the same kit but been a little afraid to start on her. Very cool project!!! 

Since my other GB project is on hold awaiting the printing of decals, I thought I would start the 2nd project for this one, Monograms classic B-26 Marauder.  I've heard a lot of sad stories concerning this model, but I don't know exactly what to believe.  Some say it's a bear to construct, other that it's perfectly fine.  (For me, EVERY kit is a bear to construct!)

Anyway, here's the kit.

The decals are pretty much unusable, so I perchased two sets of aftermarket ones.  It's now only a decision about which one to build.  A couple of Quickboost engines, and some interior photo-etch (I see headaches in my future).  I understand the engine nacelle openings are too large or something.  Guess I'll determine that as I go along.

After washing and removing the large parts from the sprues, I'm happy to report that there doesn't seem to be any warpage.  We'll see how it goes this summer.

Thanks for looking!

Gary

Hey Gary, yeah late war P-38s were over-all bare metal aluminum. The earlier war planes like the P-38G were mostly if not all olive-drab upper surfaces with a neutral grey belly. 

I thought the P-38 was overall olive-drab?  Or bare metal?  What did I miss?

Gary

Ohhh, I'm going to pout!!! 

Really, no worries Steve! I assumed you were so busy with the move you'd just missed me. Don't sweat it my friend!!! 

I'm looking forward to seeing her come together too. Tamiya printed the paint guide in 1/48th scale so I figured just photocopy the paint guide, transfer to tape, and apply to the model. Eazy- peasy... But she's got so much krap on the sides of the fusilage that I'm having to fit the masks around every air intake etc. It's been fun... 

Jeez sorry Gam, I guess I'm not getting notifiactions again  What? about a dozen or more times in the last 4 years. Too tired to try to fight it anymore.

This site just sucks the fun out of trying to run a GB.

Nice looking job on the 38. Looking forward to seeing it come together.

Painted and preshaded the underside of the P-38 over the weekend. 

I got it up BL.

Thanks for being a part and sorry I haven't been here much. As things start to get back to more normal (June) I'll be here more.

Thanks Gam, I have stuff scattered in three diffrent citys, no preminant address, Idaho plates in Texas and a tiny room (the same one I spent over a year after my transplant) to live out of. I may be moving on the 28th, just to start a remodel. I won't be going to the Nats this year. No time and could use the money for something else.

Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you Steve. Good luck! 

Looks great BL.

I'll get you up when I get to my laptop. 

I finally found a house but the whole closing, inspections, estimates etc are just as high a demand. I have a new kit of my stash. It's a 1/1 scale 1750sq foot house. 

BL, that looks fantastic!  Good work!

Gary

Oh WOW!!! That's sharp BL!!! 

Love the capsule and the base looks pretty friggin' awesome too!!! 

Great job!!! 

I had to wait for the paint I needed to finish the base for my Orion. I love Vallejo Model Color paint for brush painting! Anyway, here's the stand:

And with that I'm calling the thing done!

Thanks for this, I've been optimizing this model for a bit but this group build gave me a much needed kick in the pants to actually build it for real. And yes, I did make some more updates to the model for the next time I build it!

Thanks guys! Yeah the detail here is insane. The kit cost me about seventy bucks US but the box is packed to bursting with sprues and Tamiya gives you an instruction manual that's a small book.

Great work, Gamera!  That's the kind of detail you would expect to find in a 1/32nd scale model.

Gary

You guys are killing it 

Thanks BL! 

Wow, I love the detail there! Looking good!

Looks awesome BL!!! Great to see her almost done! 

The seatbelts came last week and I got them on the seats and the seats in the P-38. I'm finishing up the gunsight right now- Tamiya put a pile of detail in there and I'm going a bit slow since I can only do a step, let it dry, move on to the next step and let it dry etc. 

Superb workmanship, BL!  You deserve astronaut wings for that.

Gary

I did some work on the command module:

Here it is with the heat shield and docking adapter on:

On top of the service module:

Last thing to do is to paint the stand, and it will be all done!